


From your lips to my ears

by Chyrstis



Series: But if we go, we go together [2]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Porn with Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 17:50:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21257234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chyrstis/pseuds/Chyrstis
Summary: “It’s, um…you’re better at that flowery shit than I am, but you’ve gotta be desperate asking for me to help you go through page after page of that stuff just so you can get laid, man.”The small smile he wore seemed to help John relax a bit. “It wouldn’t be for my benefit only.”“But it’d go a long way to getting there,” Sharky replied, raising his eyebrows. “And with a Boshaw on your side, well, you sure you’re ready to deal with sex getting thrown at you 24/7?”John stared at him, giving him a look before replying drily, “I think I can manage.”-----John’s looking for advice on a specific topic, and while Sharky’s not sure he’s the right person to ask, he’s certainly willing to give it his best shot.





	From your lips to my ears

**Author's Note:**

> I'm now 100% certain that more's coming for these three, because this ball's totally rolling now and only gaining speed. (and while this wasn't what I expected to write for a follow up, I'm not complaining about extra Sharky/John interaction at all)

This was not how he expected things to go. Hell, where he expected any of it to lead to.

Sharky had assumed it was going to happen once and that was it. The three would get together, have a go at it if anyone was feeling it – and they damn well did – and things would even out. Go back to as close to normal as things ever got for them, risking the morning after awkward ‘heys’ in the hall that happened whenever the sex had been all right but not spectacular, and hadn’t been enough of a bonding experience to immediately brand them all boner-bros, or whatever else he could come up with to label it.

At least, judging from his last and only other attempt at a threesome, which had crashed and burned pretty badly out the gate. A former bro of his had scored a shot with a chick he’d liked. Sharky had been wingman for him that night, and had to pinch himself when she mentioned wanting both of them at once. That had already blown all of his expectations out of the water, thinking he would walk away with her friend’s number at best, and a few rounds of beers at the worst.

Well, one thing lead to another, and one round of failed expectations later, not even he wanted to look them in the eye the next day.

Thinking back on it even now made him want to wince, and lucky for him he didn’t let that color any of what he thought was going to go down when John arrived. Because no amount of helping on his end – and he’d tried like hell to get that shit going, and make it work – could’ve salvaged it.

But going back to this, Hana had made a solid point. Assuming anything was going to lead to them banging it out had been pushing it. A movie was a movie, and the one John brought seemed like a sure-fire boner-killer, but it swung that way. And maybe he did nudge it along by getting handsy, but Hana took little convincing and John even less, and right around the time he’d gone from having John’s hand on his dick to having Hana sitting on his face, he’d considered it a rocking success. Not to mention John had thrown him for a loop and blown him while he was at it, scrambling him for a good day and a half afterwards.

So, he made a few more assumptions after that. Seemed safe enough considering what he had to work with.

That John was being his own brand of nice – 'cause he was still fucking John Seed, just not as much of a mega-douche as he used to be - and wouldn’t pay him as much mind the next time he was invited over and they all got physical. He’d give Sharky a jerk or two every now and then just so he wouldn’t feel left out or whatever, and then go back to the whole reason they were both there to begin with: making sure the redhead between them had zero complaints, or chances to voice them.

But around the third time he’d found himself sandwiched between the two, it was starting to look pretty deliberate. John never shied away from touching him, and each time Sharky grew a little more confident that while he didn’t have the same amount of experience with dudes as John seemed to have, he at least wasn’t fucking it up with this one.

With Hana at his front, kissing him breathless, and John at his back leaving him covered with marks only his hoodie would cover up the next day, he was honestly having the best sex of his life. No joke. That he was having sex with these two at all was something that blew his mind on a regular basis, even after three years and some change with Hana, and Sharky wasn’t about to question a damn thing about it. She wanted him, actual honest to monkey Jesus wanted to spend her days and nights with him, and John…

Well, John wanted her too. And while it could've been weird to see them together, it wasn't. They’d already sorted through most of it only for John to pitch him a fast one and really, really land him in a spot he was still scratching his head over. Because with her it all made sense. Him, not so much. Not enough for him to fully believe any of that would ever be aimed his way, at least.

So, he was still questioning some things about it, but not the feeling that settled into his chest every time Hana would curl up next to him in bed during the night, right before stealing the blankets. Or the way he’d nearly trip over random shit in the hall when John would catch his eye, holding the look long enough to give him a knowing smile before walking off.

They were both probably going to send him to an early grave at this rate, given the gymnastics his heart’s gotten up to lately, but even if they did at least he’d die happy. There were worse things to end him, for sure.

Like the thing he was currently staring down. Beeping and hissing, he and the technician with him checked the gauge, and he made an adjustment with the wrench at his side, tightening it until the reading evened out.

Dealing with the massive checklist that came with monitoring the bunker’s generators, air purifiers, and fuel was a pain in the ass for fucking sure. It needed to be done, and while he wasn’t one of the engineers that helped to build them, he knew enough at this point from messing around with this kind of stuff back on the surface to tag along with them if they needed the manpower.

Yeah, it was mostly to find ways to pop shit off and get one hell of a finish, but he could apply what he knew to other areas. Fire wasn’t the only thing he was good with, it was just the thing that helped to take the edge off of everything else. When the buzzing would start up, reminding him that he had at least four more years of being cooped up down here, waiting. Wondering just how bad things would be once they were able to get topside, and he’d be able to see the other half of his family again.

Someday, he’d keep on telling himself. But someday was still a long way off.

“Try it again. We need to see if that’s normal.”

The woman with him, Vicky, was someone he’d worked with before. She was nice enough for a former Peggie, at least in terms of letting him talk just to fill in the massive gaps of silence between them, and didn’t slap the tools out of his hands every time he touched something.

But she was serious. Sometimes way too serious, and when he flicked at the gauge just to see if it’d respond, he felt her eyes boring into his back. “It’s spitting out readings, no problem.”

“For now. If you keep on doing that, however…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get you.” He didn’t tweak it again, settling for watching it bob back up to where it needed to be, hovering around the number the system needed. “We cool?”

“Mostly. Just one last check’s left here before we can head down the line to the next, and then that should cover this-“

There was a short whistle from somewhere behind him, and he started.

“Hey, working hard, or hardly working?”

Sharky peered over his shoulder, and once he noticed just who it was, he loosened up immediately.

Walking down towards them with a slight swing in her step was Hana, wearing a wide grin that he quickly matched. She had on what passed for her uniform down here – jeans, and a button-up shirt in deputy green - and was all suited up for a day spent doing the rounds in the bunker. Walking, talking, doing that whole ‘I am the law’-type shit that she swore she wasn’t trying to overdo or go into total Judge-mode over.

Course that wasn’t counting the times she’d deliberately quote a few Stallone worthy lines guaranteed to have him grinning, but that was something a little extra she’d save just for him.

“It’s serious work, you know,” she’d say, sneaking a quick kiss off of him between shifts. “What with the whole crime being the disease, and me the cure bit. You know how it goes.”

But this time around she didn’t have anyone with her, which was rare. That could’ve meant anything, but a chance to see her was a chance to see her, and he wouldn’t ever turn that down.

“Wasn’t thinking we’d catch you down here today, shorty.”

Paying absolutely zero mind to the fact that he wasn’t exactly alone with her, Sharky might’ve flexed a little harder on the next adjustment he made. Just, you know, to show off how hard he was working, even if he’d hardly broken a sweat.

“No? You know there’s always a chance I might stop on by. See how one of my favorite guys might be doing.”

Now he was definitely showing off, and only wanted to amp it up even more. “Sure thing. Might wanna pull up a seat if you’re looking to stick around, though. We’re checking on a leak in the line.”

That made her go serious fast. “Oh. Just one of those, huh? Judging from the lack of alarms, and how we’re chatting like this instead of making a break for it, though, I’m guessing everything’s fine?”

“Yeah, it’s cool. At least here it is.” He removed his cap and swiped at his brow. “We’re taking these in pairs seeing if we can track it, but no luck yet.”

Vicky jotted a few notes down on her clipboard. “There’s a possibility it’s just a faulty reading from one of the gauges, but that means checking each one by one.”

“Nice to see you too, Vic. They take you off of sanitation?”

“No,” Vicky said ruefully, as she adjusted her glasses, “but a break’s a break, Deputy, and I’d much rather deal with this at the moment. Higher priority.”

“Sounds absolutely thrilling.” Sharky shook his head, and Hana struggled to keep a straight face when Vicky scowled at him. “I think I’m going to have to side with Vic on this one, hon. Boring’s better, at least when it comes to stuff like this. Anyway, I was just passing through, but if you get a break, come find me. I don’t want to distract you any more than I already have.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have you hanging here while we’re working, H. In fact, the extra company might be kinda nice. You know, to help break things up.”

“You sure about that? I think someone might disagree with you on that one.” She winked at Vicky, making the other woman roll her eyes. “But don’t think I’m not tempted. They need me down towards storage, so I can’t drag my feet here too much longer.”

“Bunker business?”

“Bunker business. Not the whole nine yards, but close. Oh, and one quick thing,” Hana said, snapping her fingers as she recalled it. “If you see John anywhere near here, kindly redirect him towards that area too. I’ve got a bone to pick with him, and I don’t want him slipping out of it if he can help it.”

Sharky gave her a suggestive look as he opened his mouth, and she held up a finger to stop him.

“No, not that kind of bone, and you know it. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I’m going to exit stage left, and wish you both happy hunting.”

She blew him a kiss on the way out, leaving him with a silly grin for a good minute or two before he noticed Vicky’s hand waving in front of his face. When she snapped her fingers right after, he realized she was still waiting on him.

“Uh, shit, I’m here. Were you saying something?”

“Yes.” Vicky sighed deeply, and turned to head down the hall. “Come on. We’re not even halfway through this.”

An hour passed, following the same steps.

Check. Adjust. Re-check.

Check. Adjust. Re-check.

No amount of whistling, talking, or singing was going to make it any less painful. Vicky gave him a funny look more than once when something clinked when it should’ve clanked, but when he had nothing else to do but check for problems that weren’t there, he had to make do.

And failing that, distract himself from getting distracted to begin with. It was a circle, and he lapped it more than once as he forced himself to listen to what Vicky was telling him to check for.

Maybe he should’ve found a better way to twist Hana’s arm into staying with them, because at least then he’d have something pretty to look at. Someone to smile at and joke with, instead of numbing his brain sorting through these numbers and all this metal bullshit-

“Boshaw.”

He fumbled the wrench and nearly smacked himself in the face with it. There John was, somehow coming out of nowhere like a ghost, and looking dead serious as well. “Fuck, man! Give me some warning first.”

“I’ve been told there’s a problem in the back.”

“P-problem?”

Next to him, Vicky had gone ram-rod straight, not expecting to see John either. It was always weird to see the ex-Peggies react to him, because while they weren’t following the project any longer, that mix of fear and respect never really went away.

“Okay, and…?” Sharky asked, his voice rising.

“And I want you to come with me to fix it.” Still wearing that same expression, John raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Preferably, sometime today.”

“Is it a major issue?” Vicky stepped up beside him, looking concerned. “We’re both available if that’s the case.”

“Nothing catastrophic, believe me, but…only one set of hands should be needed.”

And with that, John’s eyes were focused on him again.

Sharky swallowed the growing lump in his throat, and let out a nervous laugh. “Right. You want me to drop everything and…shit, fine. I’ll smack whatever it is a few times and see if that solves it.”

He could feel the eyes of Vicky on his back as he stepped out with John, and wondered just how bad this problem was going to be. Sure, he was kidding when he mentioned smacking it a few times, but he’d do it if desperate times called for desperate measures.

John led him down towards the area in the back, only to take a left down a twisting hallway. This was further than what he’d expected, but he followed, shoving the wrench into his toolbelt as they kept on walking.

When they finally found the place, some small area tucked way back in a maze of pipes, John stopped and gestured towards the spot in question. 

“This it?” Sharky asked, wondering if John was going to be more specific than waving his hand at what looked like a breaker box. “That what’s busted?”

He gave him a thin smile. “Yes.”

Okay, so no, he wasn’t. Sharky rubbed his hands together. “Cool, so let’s see what the problem is.”

He opened it up, and checked the wires, checked the switches, and read the small labels marking the inside. Scratching at his goatee, he stood there, taking in the almost neat way the whole thing was set up, and after five minutes of doing nothing but staring at it he turned to point at John.

“You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?” John didn’t say anything, but the smile that slid onto his face said it all. “That’s real low.”

“Is it? It did exactly what I hoped it would. To bring you over here so we could speak privately.”

“Private, huh?” That got a reaction he’d hoped to keep under wraps, clearing his throat as he averted his eyes. “Kinda tough to see any part of this place as private, but this ain’t too bad. Depending on, uh…what you’re going for, I guess.”

Yeah, his mind was running through a few things. Recalling how he’d snuck around with Hana, finding any available nook and cranny they could, only to see if this would be the one that got them caught. They never started anything they weren’t able to finish, though it came close at times. Close enough to have her act as the distraction for the person nearly finding them while he hid long enough to get his zipper back up.

Applying that same idea to John, wondering how they could be caught here was just as appealing, and he knew that walking down that line of thought was a dangerous one. With the way his dick was starting to harden, he knew he didn’t need to be entertaining it either. But he did, and with the way John was eyeing him as he approached, some of that had to be running through his mind too.

“I have an important favor to ask.”

_Favor?_ That got his brain firing off any and all suggestions that train of thought could lead to. “Shoot. What is it?”

“I’ve been conflicted lately. Down to choosing three to four new poems that I believe Hana might be amenable to, but…I can’t seem to narrow them down further.”

He almost wanted to laugh. Poetry. He was here to talk to him about _poetry_. That was a curveball he hadn’t prepped for, or even remotely considered. 

“Is that right?” Sharky fiddled with his toolbelt, and wished that the machine in front of him was actually broken so he wouldn’t be standing there half-blushing like the fool he was.

“Yes. Now, you know her rather well. What she enjoys, and what grates on her, so I was hoping to get a second opinion.”

He nearly dropped what he was holding on his foot. “No fucking way.”

“As I said, you know what she likes, so it makes sense to have you look it over before she does.“

This was not poetry night take two. Or it was totally poetry night take two, Boshaw edition. Or it was just him asking for actual advice for stuff to offer _on_ poetry night, and he was overthinking it, jumping straight into the assumption that John was asking to have sex with him.

Which even if he did directly, Sharky would’ve still stood there staring at him like he’d grown a second head. Like he was currently, as John actually started to look uncomfortable with the amount of silence between them.

“Perhaps I spoke too soon-“

“Yeah! Oh, wait, not-aw, shit,” Sharky blurted out. “It’s good! It’s all good, never mind what I said at first. I’m down for that.”

“You are?”

“It’s, um…you’re better at that flowery shit than I am, but you’ve gotta be desperate asking for me to help you go through page after page of that stuff just so you can get laid, man.”

The small smile he wore seemed to help John relax a bit. “It wouldn’t be for my benefit only.”

“But it’d go a long way to getting there,” Sharky replied, raising his eyebrows. “And with a Boshaw on your side, well, you sure you’re ready to deal with sex getting thrown at you 24/7?”

John stared at him, giving him a look before replying drily, “I think I can manage.”

* * *

He all but sprinted to the showers once his shift was officially up. The hot water was welcome, along with the chance to crank out a quick one, because there was no thinking straight with that hanging around.

It was no big deal. It wasn’t anything major, but the longer he thought about it, the more the thought skittered around, and by the time he managed to find Hana where she mentioned she was earlier – hiding in the back of one of the storage rooms, but struggling to grab stuff off of a high shelf – he was on the verge of blurting anything and everything out.

Not his best move, but as he reached over to drop the item into her hands, he kept his mouth firmly shut. A real struggle, as he tried to work out exactly how to phrase any of this.

Hana jumped as he reached over her, and she spun around. “Geez, now you’re being the sneaky one.”

He kissed her before he could talk himself out of it. She sank into it immediately, throwing what she held to the side so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Having lost the chance earlier, he wanted to make up for it now. Just to have her close, to be able to press a kiss to her hair, her nose, and her chin to see how long it’d take to have her giggle until it’d break into a snort.

It was almost silly of him to want it that much, but it helped. It always did, and he loved her for it.

“Yeah, totally a sneak,” Hana said, biting her lip. She kissed him again, letting it linger long enough for him to start pressing her against the shelves, and she grinned against his mouth. “God, don’t tempt me like this. That’s not fair.”

Sharky drew back. “Hey, you said to find you once I was on break. Couldn’t exactly do this earlier, but now…?” His grin fell as he suddenly recalled exactly what she’d told him to do. “Aw, shit.”

“What?”

“The whole ‘if you see John pass him along towards you’, and I blew the second part. He wanted to talk to me about something, and it threw me off. Had a good groove going up to that point too.”

“He did? Everything okay?”

With Hana’s attention directly on him, it was worse, and his words picked up speed as he spoke. “Nah, said he wanted my opinion for some reason. Guess he couldn’t make up his mind on whatever it is he’s got hiding back in his room. And…yeah. Figured I’d help. Maybe head on over tonight and see what’s going on.”

She looked concerned at first, but started side-eyeing him when he scratched the tip of his nose and didn’t quite meet her eyes. After a minute, however, a smile crept in. “Well, you are a pretty decent tie-breaker when it counts.”

“Right? I thought I was pretty good at that, myself.”

“And if he needs another set of eyes, yours definitely wouldn’t hurt. Just one thing, hon,” Hana said, leaning up on her toes.

‘Yeah?”

“Don’t have too much fun, now.”

Sneaking a kiss to Sharky’s cheek, his face burned as she grabbed the box she'd tossed to the floor and left the room. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her wide grin said it all, and he swore to himself as he tried not to say anything else to spoil it further. Sure, he was heading over to see John. Sure, she suspected enough to jump to a conclusion or two, but he had a reason for it. Not just…assumptions, and he wasn’t feeling too much like an ass yet, so he figured he was doing okay.

But ruining the surprise like this would’ve been the exact opposite of helping, and the last thing he needed was to get drummed out of any future invites just because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

That idea stewed a little, enough for him to backtrack to the shop to get out the welding torch for a while, but he could only mess around for so long until he had no choice but to take a deep breath and dive in anyway.

Finally accepting that, he let that burst of 'fuck it, let's do this' carry him all the way to John’s doorstep.

Were his hands sweaty? He wiped them off on his jeans before knocking on the door, and shoved both deep into his pockets afterwards. There he wouldn’t have to worry about them, and it wasn’t like John was going to want to shake his hand anyway.

Or, uh, shake anything else.

He made a face. _What the fuck, man. Cool it. It’s just a damn get-together to work out whatever poetry problems he was having, they could shoot the shit after that, and then he’d head out. Nothing to it. _

Something flickered overhead, and he zeroed right in on it. One of the lightbulbs blinked, the action spaced out over a minute, and he stared at it all while waiting for literally anything else to happen.

John opened the door, and Sharky didn’t wait. Just let his mouth run on autopilot. “Hey, man. Don’t know if you think it’s working, but you should get these lights checked.”

The pleased look on John’s face went straight to confusion. “What?”

“That’s going. Unless you want to head on down to the showers in the dark, or break something heading out in the night to take a piss, you’ll want someone to jump on that shit soon as you can.”

It flickered again, and John leaned out to stare up at it, one of his eyebrows raised.

“Real pressing shit, you know?”

He did not agree, judging from the way he aimed that eyebrow at Sharky as well. “Would you like to come in? Or is this something you wanted to take care of now, since you’re insisting on it so heavily?“

“No, I’m-I’m coming, I’m just-“ _Fuck._ He cringed, internally and externally if he was being honest, and went inside before he could come up with another thing to blurt out at random.

The door shut behind him, and he stood there, his hands still crammed into his pockets as he took in the room’s appearance a second time. Last time he’d only been focused on one thing, getting the question out. This time really wasn’t any different, he told himself as he tried to shake off the feeling weighing him down. He was here because of a question, and maybe this time it wouldn’t end with him getting a door shut in his face.

“Are they right over here?” He walked up to John’s desk, taking in the number of books on it, along with the stack of papers nearby. “Dude, how many did you sort through? Looks like half of the shelf’s out here.”

Picking one up to thumb through, he blew out a breath at the number of pages paired with the size of the text.

“It pays to be thorough. But it’s rather time-intensive, and seeing as you picked that particular one up, I’m sure you can see why,” John said, walking up behind him.

“Yeah, this just looks like it’ll put you to sleep.”

He set it down, and grabbed another nearby as John came to stand by his side. Looking over at him briefly, Sharky noticed he was back to being amused again, and the small smile he wore grew when he caught his stare. “That one should be better.”

“You sure about that?” Flipping through a few pages, he went to John’s first bookmark and skimmed it. It got a laugh out of him almost right off the bat. “All right, that kinda works. And that ain’t talking about anything other than-“

A hand came to rest on his lower back, and when it slid lower to tuck under the edge of his hoodie, his entire posture went rigid.

The minute it happened, John snatched it back like he’d burned him.

And while Sharky didn’t turn to look at him, he could see John starting to back off out of the corner of his eye, and ticked off the seconds as silence filled the room. Then gave up on waiting, because if he was going to shoot himself in the foot any further with this, he might as well go for broke.

“Look, I’m used to the idea of you wanting Hana by now,” Sharky admitted, setting the book down. “Long before you both started banging on the reg, I knew you were into her, and even called that shit up on the outside before. It’s a given by this point, and that’s not counting what we’ve all done together, 'cause _fuck_, those were some major banging sessions. And going off of that, yeah, it’s cool to reach over and give a courtesy jerk, or go down on anyone that’s in danger of feeling left out, but the idea that you want some of this outside of that?”

He gestured towards himself, and gave John a conflicted look.

“Not that you made me feel like anything we did during those nights was a pity fuck, but…that’s taking longer to sink in, amigo. No weirdness intended.”

John was as hard to read now as he always was, but he wasn’t pissed at him, or offended. If anything, he looked as close to sorry as he’d ever seen him. “None taken, or intended either.”

“Not that I’m not…uh, fuck. I’m into it. You’re-“ Sharky looked him over, gave him a good solid once-over, and found himself drawn back to his eyes like he always was. “You’re the kind of hot that has someone thinking about it long after they see you, you know? Right at the worst times, either when you’re about to sit down for dinner, take a leak, or when you’re about to get in some shut-eye.”

John didn’t move any closer, but the tension that had settled into him seemed to fade the longer Sharky kept talking.

“It’ll pop up, right as you’re cracking open a beer to relax. Just ‘fuck that guy’. Like, seriously, fuck that guy for looking like that and knowing it. I still remember thinking right when you all came here trying to get us to sign up, ‘Look at this asshole. This guy comes sweeping in, with chicks hanging off of him only to say that there’s no fucking allowed? Man, that blows.’”

A frown covered John’s face for a second only to give way to an amused sigh. “Clearly, what mattered at the time.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t important, but it stuck. At least for a little while.” Sharky shrugged, and gave John a light punch to the shoulder. “And it still doesn’t change the fact that they went for you, in most of the videos and the posters, hoping to get people to sign up knowing they’d be throwing ass at you left and right.”

“They didn’t.”

“Didn’t pick you, or didn’t throw a ton of ass at you? I knew at least three people that would’ve dropped and spread ‘em in a heartbeat. What with you walking around acting all like you’d be able to get it with only a look.” He wet his lips. “'Cause you could’ve. Or just asked. That’s a given too.”

Sharky watched John’s eyes zero in on him as he edged closer, how they scanned his face completely, before dropping to focus on his mouth. “That you would say yes?”

“Not back then, but now?” His voice nearly cracked, but his next few words were even. “Yeah. Hell, yeah.”

“Maybe that was my mistake then.”

“What?”

His eyes flicked back up to his own. “Failing to ask from the start.”

Sharky stepped forward and kissed him hard, both hands reaching for his shoulders only to pull him closer shortly after. Standing there, holding onto him tight, he didn’t want to let go.

John let him take the lead, opening his mouth to him seconds after contact. On the third or fourth kiss, he slipped a hand behind Sharky’s head to keep him there, while his other hand hooked his belt. That brought his hips right up against him. Helped him to feel the friction between them as the slow grind made him moan into John’s mouth, and didn’t object at all when John broke the kiss to move his lips along his jaw.

The beard always tickled more than Sharky thought it would, but he was getting used to it. Fuck, was he. “So…”

“So?” John nipped at his skin, and went for the space below his ear.

“You were hoping for it, weren’t you?”

He paused, giving Sharky a chance to trade a look with him. “I was keeping the option open.”

“But you wanted it.” Sharky’s grin grew as John gave him a small shrug. “Don’t lie now.”

“I never said I was.” John’s hands went for the hoodie, pulling it and the tank under it, up and over Sharky’s head. His hat was caught up in the mess as well, disappearing with it, and when John kissed him next, it was with a light push towards the back of the room. “But I did need to be clearer, didn’t I?”

Before long the edge of the bed hit the backs of Sharky’s legs, and he sat down, getting to work on John’s belt right after. It didn’t take long to undo it, and he glanced up at him as John worked to get his shirt open.

John raised an eyebrow, not exactly smiling at him, but the hint was there. “Hmm?”

“It’s…uh,” John stripped the shirt off, and Sharky idly realized he still hadn’t done much to remove his own jeans or shoes. He kicked his sneakers and socks off soon after, and hoped that no one would trip over them later. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Random shit. Nerves, I don’t know. It’s all kinda kicking in and taking turns.”

He undid the button to John’s pants, but right when he was about to drag them down his hips, John crouched down to kiss him. Amused by how insistent John was being, Sharky grinned as he kissed him back, and felt John’s hands work at his own jeans. 

“Dude,” he managed between kisses, “you wanna make this difficult, don’t you?”

“Exactly the opposite. I was aiming for easier,” he said, helping Sharky to get them out of the way.

The heated look he wore after doing so made Sharky pull him onto the bed with him.

He lost track of John’s hands after that, focusing on how well he could work his pants down all while seeing if he could actually get a hickey on him for once. It wasn’t easy, between taking him in hand and sucking hard at any of the spots he was covering John’s neck with, but he did it. He kept his hand moving, his mouth right at his throat, and had every intention of going up until either John finished, or he told him to stop.

John’s breathing went ragged, but he drew it back in line somehow as he held himself up and over Sharky. “Flip over.”

The request wasn’t forceful, but there was no mistaking how John intended it. Sharky turned around in his arms, propping himself up on his forearms, and after a few seconds and some rustling, felt John press an open-mouthed kiss to the back of his neck.

“Now, what could we possibly do like this?” John asked, wrapping his arms around him.

His hands ran down Sharky’s chest as he continued to kiss him, lightly brushing his thumbs over his nipples before giving them a tweak. Sharky jumped slightly at the sensation, but wouldn’t have minded if he did it again. “Got a few ideas.”

“Do you? Any that you would like to share?”

“It’s…it’d definitely start like this. What with, you know. You there, behind me.” Not that he’d had a good chance to fantasize about this much before, but he was well on his way to it now, feeling what he was sure was John’s cock against his ass. “You, hard like that’s nice too. 'Cause it’d really blow if after all of this you didn’t have some kind of a boner going.”

He heard John do something suspiciously close to a snort, and wished he could’ve seen his face. “I see. Are you comfortable with that? Any form of penetration?”

One hand traced down Sharky’s back, the warmth of it making a shiver run through him. Then traveled even further down from the base of his spine, running right along his ass. That got a rough exhale. “…Uh, that’s a 10-4 on that.”

“Charlemagne. A simple yes or no would suffice.”

“What, you don’t know half of the shit your truckers would’ve said on the road?” When John didn’t answer, Sharky took a look over his shoulder only to catch the annoyance crossing his face. “Seriously, yes, I’m cool with this. That. Shit, anything.”

John got up, but not before Sharky got a quick kiss off of him. That made him freeze in place, but his frown faded as he slid off of the bed, and walked over to his desk.

“But yeah, about that.” Sharky flipped over to look at him, leaning up on his forearms. “So, Hana and I have done some anal. It’s not a big deal, and she’s liked it well enough, but…after a few times she asked if I’d be into it too. If it’d be cool if she’d slip me a finger or two while blowing me. Just for science.”

“And?”

He watched John bend down to reach into one of the drawers, and slowly let out a breath. “It’s pretty fucking good. Not gonna lie.”

“But no more than that?”

“Uh, no. Not yet,” he said. “But that’s looking to change, so…?”

John chuckled, and shook his head at him as he walked back over. “Well, we can try a few things tonight. See if they agree with you, and maybe we can plan for that in the future accordingly.”

All he had with him for now was a small container of lubricant, but watching him slip a generous amount between his hands as he rubbed them together made Sharky’s mouth go dry. This was actually on the verge of happening, and that made disbelief want to kick him squarely in the shins, yet again.

“…And aren’t you supposed to be on your hands and knees?”

That nearly made him swallow his tongue. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” The sharp look John gave him made him sit up. “Maybe can mean all sorts of things. Such as, maybe I did invite you here for more than just your opinion. Maybe I did intend to see how many ways I could fuck you tonight all before cracking open a single book. And maybe, just maybe,” he said, drawing the words out slowly as he reached the bed’s edge, “I could see how quickly I could get you to come for me, knowing full well that I plan on testing that the next time the three of us meet.”

“That’s-uh, that’s a lot of maybes,” Sharky replied, looking up at John from his spot on the bed. And not a single one of them did a damn thing to kill the hard on he’d had from the minute John laid his hands on him.

“Oh, I’m not done. There are plenty more I could choose to share, but if you wanted to turn any of those maybes into a yes…?”

He moved; a hell of a lot quicker than he thought he could. That he was that eager to do so made his face burn, but hearing John’s hum of approval only made him harder.

“That’s at least one maybe well-removed. Let’s see about removing the others now, one by one.”

Starting from the middle of his back, he felt John press a kiss there before traveling up, leaving more as he went. His left arm curled around Sharky’s midsection as he did so, bringing his fingers up along the underside of his cock.

It was when his palm came to cup him, sliding back and forth with ease as he started to cover him with the lubricant, that Sharky tried to focus on breathing through his nose. Swallowing hard as John’s fingers closed around him, he twisted them in a gentle spin as he slid from the base of his cock up to tease at the tip.

“Is this all right?”

He was warm at Sharky’s back as he leaned into him, wanting more of it. A bunch of responses ran through his head, all of them in the affirmative, but he didn’t let any slip until he felt John’s other hand return to where he had felt him before. His slick fingers pressing against his ass, making sure that he was well coated there too.

“Yeah.” He nodded, then quickly repeated himself. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“And this?” he asked, his mouth teasing at Sharky’s neck.

The hand wrapped around his cock kept on moving at a slow pace, the lube making every slide heaven. “That’s-that’s just not fucking fair.”

“Why would you say that?”

“'Cause, I-“ Pressing down gently, John started guiding one finger into him, and Sharky felt his brain stutter to a halt. “…Oh, jumping Jesus, holy fucking shit-!”

“Mmm. Casual blasphemies? Given how a certain deputy tends to respond to my efforts in a similar fashion, I think we’re on the right track,” John deadpanned.

“Fuck you, man. It’s-it’s just hard to think. Hard to keep everything straight when you’re…you’re doing that,” he breathed. “When I can’t even see you, or touch you much. That’s not cool.”

He tried groping behind him for John, only managing to find and dig his fingers into his thigh. That got Sharky a kiss to the side of his neck that was guaranteed to leave a mark, all while John continued to slide the finger inside of him in and out. It was a slow, gradual build with each press, deeper and deeper, and he felt himself starting to lean more into it.

“Good. Just like that.” He could hear John close by his ear, making pleased sounds himself. “Ease into it. Feel me as I’m feeling you.”

The encouragement almost did it for him just as much as the change in angle, feeling it more when he arched back into him. When another finger slipped in, filling him further, it wasn’t a sound that escaped him, not exactly. But John heard it, increasing the pace gradually as his breaths became shorter with every thrust.

And it felt good. Good enough to know that if John were to pull his fingers out now only to slide in himself, Sharky would have a mess on his hands in seconds. His dick couldn’t get any harder, the sensation bordering on painful, and when he felt another finger start to tease at him, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

“That’s about where you need it, right?” Sharky pushed back against John, urging him deeper, and heard him inhale sharply. “Where you’d need me?”

“…Close, but yes.”

“Well, what are you - you trying to draw it out or something? I-I want to feel you.”

The groan that slipped out of him after hearing that was music to Sharky’s ears. “Later. We have all the time in the world. Focus on this for now, and if you close your eyes, you’ll find it’s still me.” The fingers slid deep, all of them in time with his other hand, and John’s voice was just as rough as his was. “I’m still inside of you. Moving with you. Feeling everything, and waiting to see just what it’ll take to make you come for me. Because isn’t that what you want?”

“What I-what I want?”

The words came in a rush, hot by his ear. “Don’t you want to come for me?”

“Oh, fuck,” he rasped, feeling John’s hand start to jerk him harder. “Fuck, fucking-“ With every stroke of John’s, he kept his hips moving, wanting to take John deeper even if it wasn’t possible.

“Don’t you?”

He didn’t know how, but he responded, his voice shaky and uneven. “Yeah, just-yes.”

“Then go ahead. Don’t make me wait.”

Coming then, was easy. All too easy after that. His body tensed, hot, wet heat spilling out onto the sheets, all drawn and encouraged by the hand grasping him. Arching back into John, he nearly collapsed, but let him take some of his weight as he came back to himself.

Hanging his head as he gulped down air, he felt John’s lips at his neck again, the touch almost soft. “Are you all right?”

That he didn’t shift away immediately was a relief, and Sharky nodded. Responding was harder, but he managed that after a few seconds. “Yeah.” He inhaled, and exhaled, feeling the breath waver. “Still here.”

“Good.”

John withdrew slowly, making sure he could adjust to it without pain. Once Sharky gave him an actual signal, the sloppiest a-ok he’d ever managed, John got up, leaving him to his spot on the bed.

Sharky rested there in the meantime, with his eyes closed as he felt his body relax, and let himself fall onto his side, knowing he was still a mess, but just too high from the feeling to care about it.

“I’ll have you know, we’re not done yet.”

He could hear John at a point further away in the room, either cleaning his hands, or lubing up for an encore. Odds were better for the first, but the thought of the second made the ache running through him twice as good. “I know. Just give me ten like last time. Or fuck, maybe fifteen or twenty.”

“And then again?”

“You want me to open a book for you? To do any serious reading or thinking?” Sharky rolled over and held up two fingers. “Throw in two more rounds of that, and I’m sold.”

* * *

Two was pushing it, since after the first time he wasn’t thinking his clearest, and after getting John under him the second time – finally, touching him in the way he’d wanted to earlier – his brain was toast. Blissed out, and content to be lazy as hell as he laid there, almost on the verge of drifting off.

At least for a little while. There had been a purpose behind getting him there after all, and after cleaning up and changing out the sheets, John handed him the first book.

The theme he’d settled on was ‘Wildfire’, said in that airy way John took to whenever he was presenting something he thought was important. It had Sharky struggling to stifle a laugh as he was handed book after book, and flipped through them to the pages John had placed bookmarks.

He had told him three or four poems earlier. It was actually down to eight or nine, and the two were soon surrounded by open books on John’s bed.

Sharky ran a hand through his hair, feeling plenty relaxed at this point, but not sure if he was actually of help here. The poems all sounded good. All of them hit the topic straight-on.

But John wasn’t happy with any of them. At least not enough to narrow them down further.

“Oh, man. Go for this.”

He handed the book to John, and watched as he read through the words, examining them closely. It was an intense amount of focus for what amounted to thirty words total, and Sharky watched a frown work its way onto his face.

“No good?”

“It’s missing something. That…” John started moving one of his hands, rotating it in a circular motion as he searched for the right word to fit what he was thinking of. “Impact. The sense of heightened emotion, the diction-“

“Heh, diction.” John glared at him, and Sharky cleared his throat. “Uh, right. All of that diction. Just hanging out there, you know?”

John pinched the bridge of his nose, and let his eyes fall shut. “To be to the point, the intent behind it doesn’t matter if in the end everything hinges on one single word.”

“One?”

He raised his head. “One. And if it’s the wrong one, it all falls apart.”

“You know we’re talking about Hana, right?” Sharky asked, giving him a wry look. “You could read through one of the bunker’s technical manuals, running down through all of the specs, and get the same reaction. Swooning, moaning, telling you to, I don’t know, go through the full hands-on demo for any of the pictures included. Provided the pictures come with positions, but I don’t think that’s gonna work here.”

“Because going through a list of pressure readings is the best form of foreplay.”

“With her, yeah. 'Cause she’s kinda got a thing for that. Or maybe just for you after all of that radio shit you kept up with.”

John’s lips pressed together in a thin line.

That made Sharky backpedal a bit. “Not that you were always going out of your way to tell her anything that sort of implied, or made her think you wanted to fuck her, but you kinda were. Talking all about screaming for you, how good it’ll feel to say ‘Yes’, and just hogging that frequency whenever she’d light any of your shit up. And I don’t think you know this, but when you threaten someone, sometimes you get into that low, breathy, ‘I’m not trying to, but you’re gonna be soaked by the end of this’ tone of voice, which works for more people than you’d think-“

_“Charlemagne.”_

That was a definite warning, and Sharky threw both of his hands up.

“Fuck, man, she likes you. Loves you, if she hasn’t said anything about it yet. And you’re sitting here worried that one word’ll ruin it all? That any of this’ll make her think this is a bad idea?” He pushed the books away. “That ain’t her for one, and two, you know that ain’t true either.”

Judging from the sharp stare John was aiming at him, he hadn’t let any of what he’d said before this go, but angled it away when Sharky refused to break eye contact. “It’s not that,” John replied with a huff.

“Then what? You’ve got performance anxiety all of a sudden?” He squinted at him, tilting his head as he did so. “…Can you even get that? Guess you can if we’re talking about it and you’re trying to sidestep it like I’d sidestep shit on a sidewalk, but seriously, here.” He picked up one of the books he’d shoved back and flipped it open to a random page. “Read it.”

John was still irritated as he took the book and scanned the poem, but when he started reading, it slowly faded. His voice was warm as he spoke, making his way through each line, holding the dramatic pauses just long enough to feel right, and brought out everything he was complaining about having lost not even five minutes ago.

It was tough not to keep his eyes on him as he spoke, and though he’d ripped on Hana a bit for mooning over this, after listening for a few he had to give it to her. It wasn’t half-bad. He’d still rather go for a night of disco, a round or five at the Spread Eagle, and time spent speeding down the trails in an ATV with a pack of cherry bombs, but not bad.

“Well?” John said, once done.

Sharky gestured down towards his lap. “I’ve got a quarter chub here so that might need some work, but everything else? …Nice. That’s mighty nice.”

He rolled his eyes, and sighed. “Thank you for sharing that.”

“Course. Thought it was only fair for you to get an honest, unbiased opinion of how you’re doing.”

John pulled over another book over, eyeing Sharky as he did, and opened it. The poem he settled on this time was slightly different, but kept fire as its focus. Midway through, he watched as John reached over to him, and tugged the sheet out of the way.

Then his hand was on his cock, slowly stroking him as he kept on going, not pausing or hesitating once as his eyes remained set on the book. That lit a fire in him for sure, and Sharky struggled to keep his hands to himself as John continued.

Thirty words hadn’t been much before. Now, it was borderline cruel and unusual. John kept everything level. Everything even, as if this wasn’t happening right next to him.

“Better?” he asked, once he’d snapped the book shut.

His hand was still moving, though the strokes became surer now. Faster as John turned to look at him directly. Swallowing hard, Sharky shifted his hips to rock into the motion. “Think we’re at three-quarters now, give or take. But that last one? Go for that.”

“Are you certain? I’d hate for you to say that knowing full well your bias towards activities like this. …And also, the subject matter.”

“Nah, it’s-it’s good.”

“Perfect?” John asked, leaning towards him. “You know I won’t accept anything less.”

Sharky looked at him, really looked at him, taking in the blue of John’s eyes and the way his lips had parted, and knew that after cleaning everything up they were about to have another mess on their hands.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Perfect.”

* * *

The door creaked as Sharky opened it, just enough to slip through without making any extra noise, but almost slammed shut when he let go of it.

His coordination had gone to shit sometime in the last ten minutes. Pushed along by a mix of exhaustion and the pleasant ache still running through him, he was beat. The best kind of beat to be, but beat regardless.

Resting his head against the metal surface for a moment, he leaned back when he had his bearings again, blinking against the dark as he started pulling his clothes off, and didn’t think his and Hana’s joint beds had ever looked as good as they had in that moment.

Not the least of which because of the person sprawled out on them. Stretched out, her limbs either curled up in the blanket or sticking out at odd angles, Hana was out like a light. And somehow just as fucking pretty dead asleep as she was awake and smiling up at him.

He took three steps towards the emptier side of the bed and faceplanted right onto it. It shook with the impact, and he let himself sink down into the mattress.

“…Hey, stranger.”

“Hey, Dep.” Sharky’s words went straight into his pillow, and he heard her laugh. It was softer, rough with sleep, and he hummed in contentment when he felt her fingers brush through his hair. There were a few things guaranteed to make him putty in her hands, and this was one of them. “Missed you.”

“Hmm?”

He turned his head towards her, and took in the bedhead she was currently rocking. “Missed you tonight.”

“Did you? I missed you too.” He tried to kiss her hand, ending up grazing her wrist instead, and Hana shifted it to stroke his cheek. “Funny how this setup’s almost too small with all of us on it, but huge when it’s just a party of one.”

“I hear you.” He kissed her again, and held his hand over hers. “It just ain’t the same.”

She shifted forward to curl up next to him and he wrapped her up in his arms. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he buried his face in her hair after, focusing on her slow, steady breaths.

He was right on the edge of sleep when he heard her speak up again. It was muffled this time, and he struggled to hear her clearly. “What’s that, shorty?”

“How’s John doing? Still his stubborn, charming self?”

“Yeah, ‘bout the same as he usually is,” he murmured.

“I bet. Didn’t give you too hard of a time?”

That made him go through a few responses. Some funny, some raunchy, some a hell of a lot more sentimental than he was expecting, but he settled for one that was straightforward. “Nah, he was all right. …More than all right. Don’t know if he really needed the help he thought he did, but…”

“He made it worth it?”

“Yeah,” he said, grinning in spite of himself. “I think he did.”

She moved in his arms, and he felt her press her lips to his cheek. “You know you can’t tease me about this anymore, right? That right’s hereby been revoked.”

He cracked open an eye to look at her. “Come on, I can get one in.”

“Can you? Really?”

“Though I know you like it better with two or three, so maybe if you let me wiggle it just right-”

He scored a pillow to the face for that one.

Yeah, totally worth it. 


End file.
